Punjab: Fairs and Festivals

Fair and festivals are an integral part of our folk culture. Not much effort has been made to make a systematic study of the folk culture of Punjab. This book fulfills this vacuum. This book lists the major fairs of Punjab and traces origin and development through the ages unto the present time. Author’s research has shown that the pre-independence Punjab celebrated 7000 melas. The 1961 census lists 4,561 fairs in Indian Punjab. After the formation of Haryana, Punjab was left with 2,027 fairs to celebrate. He has classified them into six categories – seasonal, mythical, fairs in honor of saints, fairs in honor of historical events, fairs connected with festivals and sports fairs. There is a subtle change in the nature of these festivals due to the influence of Sikhism on the rural masses. For instance, Baisakhi, which in its original form, was a plain harvest festival, acquired adde3d importance when Guru Gobind Singh declared the creation of the Khalsa on this day in 1699. The significance increased after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. For the Arya Samajists, Baisakhi also marks the day when Swami Dayanand Founded the first Arya Samaj in Bombay in 1875.